As the demand increases for broadband access to data networks, conventional dial-up, DSL, and other broadband systems have proven inadequate. A significant limitation of these conventional systems is the cost of building and extending the network infrastructure. In particular, these systems generally are restricted by their dependency on cables as a transport medium, and the cost associated with laying new cable.
Wireless broadband networks, however, eliminate or substantially reduce many of the physical limitations of conventional systems. Consequently, many network operators and service providers are turning to these types of networks to serve their consumers. Wireless broadband network architectures such as Wi-Fi and WiMax have emerged as industry standards, and continue to evolve at a rapid pace.
Part of this evolution stems from a need for wireless networks to operate seamlessly with conventional wired infrastructure, particularly with existing packet-switched networks. Many wireless access systems currently use native Ethernet to identify network nodes. Recent standards, though, define an IP convergence sub-layer that enables native IP operation and no longer use Ethernet frames. These new standards with an IP convergence sub-layer present a problem for applications that need to identify nodes connected behind wireless access nodes that implement an IP convergence sub-layer. Applications that require a certain Quality of Service (QoS) or policy-based access, for example, are particularly difficult to implement without uniquely identifying each node.